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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27328273">Infarction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/captbarnes/pseuds/captbarnes'>captbarnes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>House M.D.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s01e21 Three Stories, Flashback, Infarction, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:48:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,650</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27328273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/captbarnes/pseuds/captbarnes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Wilson comes back from a convention and discovers what happened to House's leg.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Greg House/James Wilson, Greg House/Stacy Warner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>148</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Infarction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wilson's out of town when House has the first surgery. He gets a call from Stacy about the infarction and promises to fly home the next morning, but she interrupts him (much like he knows House would, were he able) and tells him to stay. The conference is important, he's a keynote speaker, and House wouldn't want him in his hospital room looking "like a kicked puppy" anyway. (Wilson knows exactly whose words <em>those</em> are.)<br/>
<br/>
So he stays in Detroit, and he tells himself that House would mock him for feeling guilty about it, but that doesn't stop him.<br/>
<br/>
The speech goes exceedingly well, but all he can think about is how the surgery went and whether House will be awake yet. As soon as he can escape the ballroom and get outside into some fresh air, he pulls his phone from his pocket and dials House's room. He'd managed to pry that much information from Stacy when she was practically refusing to give him anything else; he tries and fails not to be bitter about that.<br/>
<br/>
House's voice is gruff and exhausted when he answers after four rings. "Hello," he says, not much of a question.<br/>
<br/>
Wilson clutches the phone a little tighter, relieved to hear him on the other end. "Hi, it's me," he says softly. "How're you doing?"<br/>
<br/>
House gives him a short little laugh in response, but it sounds frustrated, and Wilson's chest tightens because of it. "Great," he says sarcastically. "Never been better."<br/>
<br/>
"I mean it, House," Wilson warns, but there's no scold in his voice. "Did the surgery go okay?"<br/>
<br/>
There's a pause, like House is deciding whether to tell him the truth. "Yeah, it was fine," he says finally, and Wilson thinks it's a lie.<br/>
<br/>
"How's the pain—"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm fine," House says again, and it's unclear whether he's trying to convince Wilson or himself.<br/>
<br/>
There's another moment of silence while Wilson contemplates whether it's really worth it to argue with him right now. Finally, he decides that it isn't, and he nods once. "Okay," he says simply, and he swears he hears House relax a little, even through the phone. "Listen, my speech is over, I'm going to try and get out on a flight tomorrow."<br/>
<br/>
"You should stay," House says bluntly. The plan was originally for Wilson to stay for the whole conference and go back Friday; it's only Tuesday evening now, but he wants to be home. With House. That same gruff voice pulls him back out of his thoughts: "You're just going to be anxiously looking at my vitals all day and I get enough of that from Stacy."<br/>
<br/>
"House—"<br/>
<br/>
"Stay." It's not a request, it's a command, and Wilson is hurt by it despite knowing it's not meant in malice. "I'll still be here on Friday."<br/>
<br/>
He nods again and gives up. "Alright. Tell Stacy to call my cell if anything changes." He knows he won't.<br/>
<br/>
"I will." He won't.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay. Bye, House."<br/>
<br/>
"Bye, Wilson."<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><p><br/>
<br/>
In the three days that follow, Wilson has trouble even getting <em>ahold</em> of Stacy, and when he does, she doesn't tell him much other than that <em>Greg is fine</em> and <em>we'll see you on Friday.</em> It never sounds wholly convincing (he thinks to himself that she should be a better liar, considering she's a lawyer), but there's not much he can do about it from Detroit. He even calls Cuddy a couple of times, trying to get better information, but she's unavailable on one occasion and in a hurry on the other.<br/>
<br/>
He wants to know what they're hiding from him.<br/>
<br/>
Finally, on Friday around noon, his plane lands in Princeton and he heads straight to the hospital. He'd love to shower and sleep in his own bed, but right now he cares more about finding out what's going on than he does about changing his clothes. When he reaches House's room (after what seems like an eternity), House is asleep and his right leg is heavily bandaged, uncovered by the sheet. He doesn't understand why, since the surgery was nearly a week ago and shouldn't have left a lot of scarring or bleeding.<br/>
<br/>
Stacy's not in the room, so he sits in the bedside chair and pulls it close to the bed. He doesn't reach up to touch House — he just watches him sleep, peaceful and soft, the most gentle that Wilson's ever see him. "Hey," he says quietly, glancing anxiously at the vital monitor for just a moment. "It's me, I'm here."<br/>
<br/>
When he hears the door slowly slide open, he turns to see Cuddy looking guilty. Wilson knows that this is his opportunity to find out what the hell they've been hiding from him, and he pushes himself quickly out of the chair and goes with her into the hallway, just outside the glass walls. "Hi," he says, rushed. "How's he doing? Why's his leg still bandaged, I thought he would've had them off by now?"<br/>
<br/>
Cuddy doesn't answer, just hands him the file and looks at him solemnly. "We saved his life," she says quietly, and she turns to go back to her office.<br/>
<br/>
None of this makes any sense, so Wilson flips the file open and starts scanning: <em>aneurysm, clot, infarction,</em> those are all things he already knows. He flips through test results and past the surgical report — and then he reaches another one. That doesn't make any sense, though, because House had only had the first surgery...<br/>
<br/>
When he sees Stacy's name in neat cursive at the bottom, he swears he sees red.<br/>
<br/>
Moments later, he's bursting into Cuddy's office, and she doesn't look surprised to see him again so soon. "You did <em>another</em> surgery?" he shouts, holding the file up in front of him. "You knew he didn't want it, and you did it anyway?"<br/>
<br/>
Cuddy stands up and starts in an even voice: "Stacy is his medical proxy and he was in a coma—"<br/>
<br/>
"A <em>medically induced</em> coma! For the <em>pain!</em> And she was just waiting to put him out so she could do whatever the hell she wanted."<br/>
<br/>
Cuddy purses her lips and steps closer to him. "She saved his life—"<br/>
<br/>
"He didn't want another surgery!" Wilson laughs, bitter and exasperated, turning away from her for a moment. "No wonder no one would tell me what was going on. You both knew I wouldn't have let it happen."<br/>
<br/>
"She's his proxy; she has the ability to make decisions in the event he can't make them for himself."<br/>
<br/>
"He <em>made</em> the decision. He wanted to sleep off the worst of the pain and then come out the other side, with full use of his leg."<br/>
<br/>
"You don't know that—"<br/>
<br/>
"Neither do you!"<br/>
<br/>
He slams the file down on her desk and storms out, furious. He can't believe that Stacy would do this, not to House, not when she knew he'd never forgive her for it. If Wilson had been here, he would have prevented this.<br/>
<br/>
He rakes a hand angrily through his hair. He should have been here.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>* * *</p>
</div><p><br/>
<br/>
When House wakes up, Wilson <em>is</em> there. He's the one sitting in the chair by the bedside, trying and failing to focus on a magazine article about something-or-other. He hears House stir and he immediately looks over, putting the magazine on the floor. "Hey," he says gently, noticing the way House's face quickly twists into an expression of pain. "I'd ask how you're feeling, but..."<br/>
<br/>
House grunts. "Where's Stacy?"<br/>
<br/>
That stings, even though Wilson knows it shouldn't bother him. Stacy is House's girlfriend, after all; that takes precedence over best friend and he knows it. "She went to the cafeteria." It's the lie he's been practicing to himself the whole time House has been asleep, but the truth is that he doesn't know where Stacy is and he doesn't really give a damn. He's opening his mouth to elaborate on it when he sees the horrified look cross House's face and he falters.<br/>
<br/>
"My leg—" House starts, and Wilson's heart feels like it's going to burst. House is fumbling for the sheet (slowly, but as urgently as he can), and Wilson pushes himself out of the chair.<br/>
<br/>
"It's okay," he says, another lie. "You had a second procedure—"<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't consent," House argues, voice instantly raised. Then: "the coma." He turns his head to fix his blue eyes on Wilson, the stare seeming to go right through him. "Stacy signed."<br/>
<br/>
Sadly, Wilson nods. "Just to remove the dead muscle," he says, like that makes it any better. "You still have your leg—"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck her."<br/>
<br/>
"<em>House.</em>" Wilson hates what Stacy did, hates that she and Cuddy completed disregarded what they knew House wanted — but he also knows that Stacy is the best thing House has, a thought that stings him yet again. "She probably saved your life."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't care," House argues again, nearly at the point of shouting. "I didn't want the damn surgery. I want my <em>leg</em>."<br/>
<br/>
Wilson thinks, <em>you still have your leg,</em> but he doesn't say it. He knows that House means he wants his doctors to have diagnosed him on the first day, not the fourth, and that he wants to be able to live without being in pain forever. There's nothing much to say to that, except "I should have been here. I <em>could</em> have been here, if you weren't such a stubborn ass—"<br/>
<br/>
House turns his head away and closes hie eyes. "You wouldn't have been able—"<br/>
<br/>
"I would have stopped it," Wilson says firmly, standing at the foot of the bed. The way he's staring at House makes it clear that he's being honest, too: he might have disagreed with House's decision, but he would have let him make it.<br/>
<br/>
There's a moment's pause before House pushes the sheet back over his right leg. "Get a new proxy form," he says decidedly, and it makes Wilson's stomach drop. "I'm appointing you."</p>
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